Airlines finish on down note

WilliamSpain

CHICAGO (CBS.MW) - Although strong performance by the small fry ignited a something of an airline rally early Thursday, the sector went to ground in the afternoon, with its main indicator off better than 3 percent..

The Amex Airline Index ($XAL) finished down 2.81 at 83.16.

Still, the big story of the day is the merger of Hawaiian Airlines with Aloha Airgroup. Formed largely as a defensive move to combat slumping passenger levels, the combined entity expects to reach the magical $1 billion annual revenue mark and will be the dominant player in its home market.

Shares in Hawaiian
HA, -4.20%
skyrocketed nearly 60 percent at one point, to a 52-week high of over $4.00, but cooled off a little and ended up 24.4 percent, or 61 cents, to $3.11.

Other carriers on the lower end of the industry food-chain that ultimately went south on the session included Alaska Air
ALK, -4.52%
off 65 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $28.65; America West
AWA, +0.11%
off a penny to $2.82 and USAir
U, +0.00%
which slipped 36 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $6.03.

Investors were also down on the big boys: Delta
DAL, -5.19%
lost $1.39, nearly 5 percent, to $27.86; Northwest
NWAC
gave up 4.3 percent to $15.20 and Continental
CAL, -1.93%
slipped 21 cents, just shy of 1 percent, to $23.90.

The news was mixed for long-suffering United parent UAL
UAL, -3.32%
While the White House formally stepped in to avert a strike for at least 60 days, the carrier earned the dubious distinction of being the first to get hit with a Sept. 11-related lawsuit. A widow of one of the passengers on United's doomed Flight 175, flown into the World Trade Center following a terrorist hijacking, charged the carrier with negligence. Shares in UAL gave up $1.10, or over 8 percent, to close at $12.05.

Southwest, always in a class by itself, closed the day down 69 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $18.39.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.